Kyle Abraham

In Live! The Realest MC, New York choreographer Kyle Abraham starts out with Pinocchio but ends with a much more complex version of humanity. His piece, danced by a small ensemble, explores what it means to be a "real, live boy" when you're an out gay man in hip-hop culture. His combination of breakdancing and high-powered contemporary styles has earned serious recognition from the dance world (including a Bessie Award in 2010), but it's his examination of fraught issues outside the performance hall, like the 2010 suicide of gay Rutgers student Tyler Clementi, that takes physical virtuosity to a larger place. The tour de force kinetic monologue that ends Realist MC knocked the socks off viewers during its Pittsburgh premiere last December. Once again, OtB is offering us some of the hottest performance around. SANDRA KURTZ